Hoops & Hopes with Jay Yang
When Shanchieh Jay Yang first heard about the new Institute for Informatics and Applied Technology, he wasn’t very familiar with Gonzaga.
He knew of the great reputation of GU’s basketball program and Jesuit education, but as he started the research and interview process that led to his appointment as the inaugural David and Cathleen Reisenauer Director for the new institute, “I became excited about the opportunity to infuse AI into a liberal arts education.”
Yang probably knows more about basketball than the typical expert in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and data science. The 51-year-old still plays regularly and has already hit the courts with GU students in his first few weeks on campus. He admits that he’s not fast, not particularly tall and can’t really jump very high, but he prides himself on being a point guard who gets the ball to teammates in places to help them succeed.
Yang sees his new role with the Institute in much the same way. He hopes to be a resource and partner to faculty and students from across the academic spectrum on campus, setting them up to engage their curiosity and creativity as AI and data science became more prevalent both in the classroom and in life.
“The term ‘informatics’ really is the notion of going from data to information to knowledge,” Yang says. “Do we make complex decisions just with our instincts, or do we use our instincts based on data and information?”
“With the Informatics Institute, we want to equip people with data science, a little bit of AI, some coding, but that’s not the only thing. We want to foster a responsible mindset with the use and advancement of AI and data science with ethics, sustainability, privacy and equity. And such a mindset shift shall not be just in the STEM fields, but will provide collaboration opportunities across the entire university, with all academic areas interested in this work joining together. The cross-fertilization of critical thinking across campus is key to higher education.”
Yang arrives at Gonzaga after 22 years at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he worked as professor and department head of computer engineering and director of research for the Global Cybersecurity Institute. Yang earned his undergraduate degree in electronics engineering from the National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan before getting both his master’s degree and Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.
"His expertise and leadership will be instrumental in advancing our Jesuit vision and positioning Gonzaga at the forefront of applied technology education, particularly in areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and informatics, all with a particular focus on their ethical considerations,” says Interim Provost Mia Bertagnolli.
Much of his first year will be dedicated to creating relationships both on campus and with industry partners in the region from fields ranging from healthcare to finance to technology and more, establishing ways for students to get hands-on experience during their Gonzaga careers.
His first year will also see Yang mostly solo in Spokane, as his wife and three children will remain on the East Coast. As a youth basketball and baseball coach, and a martial art practice partner with his children, he will miss all his after-work activities with family and friends. With his free time, Yang will explore what Spokane has to offer and to work on his basketball skills here in “Hooptown U.S.A.” The family will move to Spokane after this school year.